Eric and Eliot welcome Rebecca Friedman Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper to Shield of the Republic to discuss their recent article in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, "Absent at the Creation?: American Strategy and the Delusion of a Post-Trump Restoration." They discuss the speed with which Trump has imposed policy changes, the likelihood that old international order will be irreparably broken by the end of this term, the limits of American resilience, and the emergence of a multipolar world order. They also discuss challenges to American pre-eminence of emerging technologies and "compounding geopolitical risks" that Trump's cuts to research, assault on universities, and limits on tech transfer to China will do to U.S. innovation and international competitiveness. Note: After this episode was recorded the Trump administration announced approval of AI semiconductor chip sales to China.

Rebecca Lissner & Mira Rapp-Hooper's latest in Foreign Affairs:

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/absent-creation-rebecca-lissner

An Open World: How America Can Win the Contest for Twenty-First-Century Order:

https://a.co/d/bHYjPGk

Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America’s Alliances:

https://a.co/d/8hzZNaI

Wars of Revelation: The Transformative Effects of Military Intervention on Grand Strategy

https://a.co/d/a65aUif

Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.